FAQ: Using the Scheduler with CGI Mode

How can I run Sawmill in CGI mode, and still use the Sawmill Scheduler?

Short Answer

Use an external Scheduler to run jobs or to call the Sawmill Scheduler, or run Sawmill in both CGI and web server modes.

Long Answer

Sawmill's built-in scheduler can only run scheduled jobs if Sawmill is actually
running when the job's time comes. That's fine if you're running Sawmill in web server
mode, where it runs all the time. But in CGI mode, Sawmill only runs when someone is
actively using it, so scheduled tasks will not run. There are three main solutions to this
problem: use an external scheduler to call Sawmill's scheduler, use an external scheduler
to run the jobs directly, or run Sawmill on both CGI and web server modes, with
the CGI mode doing everything but the scheduled jobs, and web server mode handling those.

UNIX

On UNIX, the most common scheduler is cron. You can set up cron to call Sawmill's scheduler
by running the command (as root)

crontab -e

from the UNIX command line, and then adding

* * * * * sudo -u apache /full/path/to/sawmill -scheduler

to the resulting file. You will need to replace "apache" with the name of your CGI user, and
you will need to replace /full/path/to/sawmill
with the full pathname of your Sawmill executable. This tells cron tab to run Sawmill
every minute, as the CGI user, with the -scheduler option (which tells Sawmill to run any
scheduled jobs, and exit).

Another option is to run your Sawmill database builds and other jobs directly with cron;
for instance you could add a line like this:

0 0 * * * sudo -u apache /full/path/to/sawmill -p profilename -a ud

(replace "apache" with the name of your CGI user)
to update the profile specified by configname every night at midnight
(the first number is the minute of the hour when the job should be run; the second number
is the hour when the job should be run, and * * * means to run it every day).

Yet another option is to run Sawmill in web server mode as well as CGI mode, with
the web server mode instance running only for the purpose of running jobs.
The two will not interfere with each other; just start Sawmill from the command line using

Windows

Unfortunately, Windows Scheduler does not let you run jobs every minute (like UNIX cron does),
so you cannot use it to call the Sawmill Scheduler directly. However, other options are available.
You can use the Windows Scheduler to run your Sawmill jobs directly. For instance, to set Sawmill
to update the database for a particular profile every night, do this:

Open the Scheduled Tasks control panel.

Double-click Add Scheduled Task, and click Next.

Choose "Sawmill (CGI)" from the list (if it does not appear, Browse and locate the Sawmill.exe file, which is usually at c:\Program Files\Sawmill 8\Sawmill.exe), and click Next.

Click Daily and click Next.

Choose a time to run the build; sometime in the middle of the night (like midnight) is a good choice, and click Next.

Enter your username and password, and click Next.

Click "Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish," and click Next.

Add "-p profilename -a ud" to the end of the Run field, and click OK.

Now Windows Scheduler is configured to update your database automatically every day.

Another option is to run Sawmill in web server mode as well as CGI mode, with
the web server mode instance running only for the purpose of running jobs.
The two will not interfere with each other; just start Sawmill by double-clicking its icon
(you can also configure it to start whenever your computer restarts, using Windows Scheduler),
and scheduled jobs will run as long as Sawmill is running. If you need Sawmill to be running
while you are logged out, see Running Sawmill as a Service.